


Wake Me Up In The Middle Of The Night

by BlazersEtc



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: A bit of POV switching for effect but not in the full on POV way, M/M, Romantic Jalec, Rune Stripping AU, This fic is all 3rd person, jalec - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 07:57:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15636504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazersEtc/pseuds/BlazersEtc
Summary: When they're stripped of their runes Jace and Alec are taken to opposite ends of the globe, but will that stop them from coming back together?





	Wake Me Up In The Middle Of The Night

**Author's Note:**

> Almost all of my one-shots are written to a single song on repeat, helping me keep the same emotion/purpose in the fic while I write. It also helps me write them all in one go. This one is inspired by 'Never Gonna Leave This Bed' by Maroon 5. I thought of Jalec as soon as I heard it. I'm not sure it went where I was originally going with it, but I think I like where it went. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!

  
Jace took a shaky breath, fighting back tears as he leant his head against the cool surface of the bedroom door. He should be asleep at this hour, not too far off from dawn, but Jace _can't_ sleep. He's made a terrible mistake.

  
Jace digs his nails into his now rune barren skin, a result of his and Alec's decision to put each other and their love above Clave law. They'd been perfectly fine for a few years, secretly visiting each other's rooms in the night, exchanges soft kisses in Alec's office or sneaking off to Taki's for a lunch date-no one suspected that the Institute head and his right-hand man were together. It was forbidden for Parbatai to be together (something Jace has always scoffed at, how were you supposed to share a soul with someone and not fall for them?), and no one had any reason to believe their leader was breaking that rule but one night of carelessness had changed everything.

* * *

Neither man had seen it coming, both sitting on the roof, laughing over some joke that Alec was telling and working on plans for a surprise holiday part for the institute (it was Izzy's Christmas gift really). When guards arrived on the roof Alec hadn't thought much of it; until they'd been ripped apart and held in the cells before being taken to Idris for trial on the ground of the crime of eros. Alec had been taken to a sperate trial, and Jace's only glance after being ripped away from his lover was to see Alec scream in agony as his runes were taken off one by one as his family was forced to watch.

  
It had taken years for them to find each other again after the Silent Brothers had erased their memories of the Shadowworld. Alec had been dropped in Australia and given the job of being a teacher and Jace hidden away in California, teaching surfing on the local beach. Neither man was happy however, each seeking something they couldn't place. Jace started traveling for work, going from California to Mexico for surfing events and eventually ending up in Florida where he was offered a modeling contract with a surf company in Australia.

  
Alec, who had never felt quite right with children, quit his job as a teacher and went through multiple jobs, none of them seeming quite right; until he found his place teaching archery. Alec ended up working with some of the most prestigious competition archers in the world, even becoming a private coach for those taking home gold medals. He was in Sydney, working as a coach for a competition, but the competition downtime was making Alec antsy for some reason, and after bouncing his legs for a good fifteen minutes and failing to absorb any of the words on the page of the book he was reading, he placed the item down and went for a walk.

  
It was all chance that he ended up on the same beach as Jace that day, that or the universe was on their side, because all it took was for Jace to turn around for Alec to forget anything but the blonde's existence. His hair was wet from the wave he'd just caught, mouth open in a joyous laugh, looking back over his shoulder as the crew laughed with him-and he ran right into Alec.

  
Both their eyes widened when they saw each other, and Alec could swear he was seeing someone from a past life, while Jace found himself unable to breathe. Alec was instantly smitten and Jace wasn't fairing much better, each blushing and stumbling over words of apology and dismissal. It took everything in him to ask for Alec's number, feeling that if he didn't he would regret it and thankfully Alec agreed.

  
As time went on their texts turned into phone calls, which turned into visits whenever one of them was traveling near the other. Friendly conversations turned flirty and before either of them knew what was happening, they were falling into bed together everytime they reunited. Slowly, the memories started to come back. At first, Jace thought they were dreams, very creative dreams, but when Alec came to him one night, describing a nightmare, the descriptions of the markings on their skin were too close to Jace's own dreams to be a coincidence.

  
They started sharing their dreams, growing closer, taking additional trips to see each other even when there was no work, cutting any other sexual partners out of their lives subconsciously, and eventually it was Alec that suggested they share an apartment. They both traveled, so neither would be there all the time, but it would be cheaper than each having a place, and they'd get to see each other easily when they were around. Jace had easily agreed and together they moved into a small apartment in New York City, a place that Alec loved in the winter and Jace said was perfect for all the travel they had to do (plus, Jace really loved the food there.)

  
It had been over two years of being together now, using the labels of 'boyfriend' to those who asked, and it seemed as if everything was perfect-except it wasn't.

  
The dreams had started becoming more frequent since their return to NYC, each male knowing that they had to be memories, as crazy as it would sound to someone else, and while it brought them closer, it also caused small fights. Usually, the fights would be forgiven in a matter of minutes, maybe hours on a bad day, but nothing had ever been this bad.

  
It was said in a moment of hurt, as Alec looked out the window, wondering where his sister is and what she's doing on a night like tonight. She could be happily out with friends, maybe that vampire Alec vaguely remembers, or she could be out fighting demons-but Alec would never know. Never be able to know. 'Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it'. It's a quiet statement, meant for himself, unaware that Jace had come quietly into the loft.

  
"You regret it?" Jace's tone is shaky and when Alec's head snaps up in shock Jace looks like he's been punched in the gut.

  
"Jace-" Alec swallows and opens his mouth to answer, but he can't, because he's not sure he can. He loves Jace, more than anything, but these memories that seem like TV in his head, that he knows are real, show him what he's given up, who he's left behind. His sister out there without her brothers, his mother losing a son and adoptive son, a Warlock forced to give up his best friends, a redhead girl losing her ex-love and best friend; it's all like this because Alec made a choice and his choice left a lot of people alone and hurting.

  
"You regret it. Us." Jace sets the food on the counter in a way that's far too calm for the emotions Alec can see swirling in his beautifully mismatched eyes.

  
"Jace, that's not-" Alec tries again, tears starting to brim in his eyes and suddenly Jace has to get out, feeling suffocated in the rather spacious room.

  
"No need for excuses, Alec." Jace's tone is calm as he places his apartment keys on the counter. "You're thinking over every moment in your head." Jace's tone is strained, clear he's trying not to cry and show how hurt he really is. "You're playing every moment of our past lives and you miss it. You don't even really know it and yet it's all you can think about. Not here, not now, not _us_. Them. People that haven't existed for years." Jace's voice trembles and he knows he can't give Alec a chance to speak, because he won't be able to do what he needs to do-what he's about to do but it turns out he doesn't need to cut Alec off, because Alec doesn't disagree with him, even in the moment Jace stays silent  
Jace turns back to the counter and closes his eyes, swallowing hard and trying to fight back all the images going through his mind. Every moment of his mundane life with Alec, from the day they met to the day they got matching parabatai tattoos based on one of their first dreams, and he fights them away. He turns instead to the door, wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck.

  
"Goodbye, Alec."

  
The closing of the door has such a heavy finality to it that Alec can feel his heart shattering in his chest.

  
He's lost Jace again.

* * *

  
Jace isn't sure what he's going to find when he opens the door. It's been months since he's seen Alec. The night he walked out was the last time he'd heard a word from the other man. No texts, no calls, nothing. Jace tried to move on, he really did, but no matter what he did or where he went he saw Alec in everything.

  
A night out at the bar reminded him of how Alec hated to drink but would suffer through beer for Jace because Jace loved beer and always wanted to try the newest seasonal tap. Trying to bring someone into his bed meant falling into the sheets with a tall, dark-haired man, only to end up calling out Alec's name and crying himself to sleep after kicking the man out. Every time Jace walked by central pack he'd feel a pang in his chest at the memories of the late night picnics they'd shared in the summer months (and even one int he dead of winter because fuck it). He couldn't live without Alec, which is why he'd let himself into the old apartment with his spare key.

He pushed the door open slowly, his throat tightening at what he saw. Alec was splayed across the sheets, clad in Jace's T-shirt and boxers, hair a mess from running his hands through it (something Jace liked to call the 'Stressed Look'), and sleeping what appeared to be peacefully, though the dark circles under Alec's eyes said otherwise. When the door opened Alec groaned, waking up and opening his eyes. His head shot up, confusion clear on his features, and he briefly wondered if he was asleep still.

  
"Jace?"

  
"Hi, Alec." Jace's voice was soft, gentle like he always was when he was with Alec like this, open and without shame. Jace had so much to say-but no words to say it.

  
"Why...why are you here?" Alec sat up a little, clearly confused by Jace's presence, though he was aching to pull the other boy to him.

  
"I..." Jace could have said a million things in that moment: that he was sorry, that he didn't mean it, that he couldn't live without alec-all of which were true, but Jace didn't say that, instead he went with something else.

  
"Entreat me not to leave thee." His voice was quiet but it seemed so loud in the dark.

  
"Jace..." Alec's voice was strained, the words clearly hitting him where they were meant to. "We...you should go. It's just going to make this harder when...."

  
"I'm not leaving. Not again. I-" Jace ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Alec with tear-filled eyes, "We're not perfect, Alec. I never should have said what I did. We're always going to have these memories, we'll always wonder what it could have been like if we'd been able to keep the secret or what it would have been like if we'd never started in the first place but I....I don't care." Jace's voice was shaking as a tear slipped down his cheek, "I don't care." His voice became more firm as he looked at Alec, eyes pleading for the other male to understand.

  
"I don't care if I have to live a thousand lives being ripped away from you as long as I get to come back to you. I don't care if I only got to have our perfect bubble for a little while, because I don't need perfect. I need you."

  
Alec stayed still for a moment before launching himself at Jace, throwing his arms around his shoulders.

  
"For whither thou goest, I will go." Alec's voice was thick with tears but to Jace it was perfect.

  
The boys clung to each other, sobs and tender kisses being traded, apologies and reassurances passing between them until they'd calmed enough to fall into bed together, curling so close together that Jace couldn't figure out where his soul started and Alec's ended, because even though they'd been stripped of everything, they'd still managed to find each other.

  
"I'm never gonna leave this bed." Jace said quietly, once he'd calmed enough to speak.

  
"I don't want you to." Alec assured Jace, kissing him softly. "If aught but death part thee and me."

  
Jace smiled softly, "If aught but death part thee and me."

  
_Wake you up in the middle of the night to say,_  
_I will never walk away again_  
_I'm never gonna leave this bed_  
_Oh, you say go_  
_It isn't working and I say no_  
_It isn't perfect so I'll stay instead_


End file.
